Many battery-powered computing devices, such as laptop personal computers (PC's), include power management software programs that allow the user of the device to monitor the battery power for these devices. For example, some power management software products can provide “on screen” displays indicating, for example, the levels of battery charge and battery current, or the time remaining on battery. These features are important to users who want to save data before power is lost or who want to be aware when particular actions (such as accessing a CD-ROM) increase the power usage.
For users of computing devices that use sources of power other than batteries (e.g., commercial electric power), power management and monitoring can still be important. Many computing devices are operably coupled to backup power sources such as uninterruptible power supplies (UPS's). An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is a type of power supply used to power and protect an electrical load that is sensitive to fluctuations in or the absence of electrical power. The UPS can be connected between the load and a source of electrical power, such as a main power source or other commercially provided electric power. The UPS uses commercially supplied AC power to charge a DC battery and provide the AC power to load. Upon outages of power, the load draws its AC power from the DC battery through a DC to AC inverter. This isolates the load from power surges or brownouts and also furnishes a source of power during brief outages.
UPS devices are commonly connected to devices such as personal computers, to protect the personal computer from power fluctuations, to provide the computer user with backup power should the primary power source be lost, and to enable the computer user to “gracefully” shut down applications that are running, as the backup power is depleted. Use of UPS devices has become especially desirable in areas, such as California, where brief power outages (e.g. “rolling blackouts”) sometimes occur, and in many other areas at times of the year (e.g., summer) when peak power demands are so high that power quality is affected (such as by brownouts).
As use of UPS devices has become more widespread, users frequently want to know information about the status of their UPS while it is supplying battery power. Users may also want to know whether power outages or other power-related conditions have occurred at times when the computing device was unattended. This information can, for example, be displayed to the user via information displayed on a computer screen. Some presently available UPS power management software provides such information using an icon representing the UPS on the screen. For example, in computers running a WINDOWS operating system (such as WINDOWS 95, 98, NT, and 2000), available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington, the “systray” can include an icon representing a UPS.
The “systray” (also known as the “system tray”) is a section of the taskbar in the MICROSOFT WINDOWS desktop user interface that is used to display icons (e.g., icons representing programs) so that a user is continually reminded that they are there and can click on one of them easily. The icons in the systray also can provide a user with the status of a program, such as when an “envelope” icon appears indicating to a user that the user'selectronic mail program has received a new message.
Because such icons are very small, it is difficult to convey all relevant information to the user quickly and in one place. Thus, some manufacturers provide separate, full applications enabling a user to obtain additional information about the user's UPS. For example, one presently available product allows the user to view UPS data via an application window that must be manually opened by the user to view or configure UPS data and settings. The application window is not automatically displayed when special UPS conditions arise. Also, displaying the application window requires that, the user start and run a new, full application, which can interrupt the user's normal use of the computer. Because this can be inconvenient for the user, many users do not run the separate application and, consequently, do not learn the additional information about their UPS that they may need to know.